Mail compensation in UK increases by a third

More than 250,000 complaints were received and completed in the first three months of this year resulting in Royal Mail recompensing customers £2.12m, reports the Daily Telegraph.

More than 250,000 complaints were received and completed in the first three months of this year resulting in Royal Mail recompensing customers £2.12m, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper reports that:

Some £1.5m of that was for lost mail relating to more than 102,000 complaints.

The compensation represented a 35% increase on the £1.65m paid out in the last three months of 2008, the Royal Mail quarterly quality of service report shows.

However, a spokesman for the company said a rise in the fourth quarter was common because the sharp increase in deliveries over the Christmas period often led to more complaints, which are not received until the following quarter.

Overall, some £9.36m was paid out in compensation in 2008/09 compared with £12m in the previous year.